Charlotte Potter: The Cat Burglar 1: Towers, Animagi, Burglaries
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Charlotte Potter is having the holiday of her life. Not only is she breaking into the Tower of London, becoming an animagus and using her new form to break into houses, but has plans to do more.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter at all.

This is an alternate version of Harry Potter and is not canon and I don't get paid for my writing. I am just writing this so then I can enjoy writing various versions of Harry Potter - male and female - become thieves because I believe a stronger Harry Potter is better than the wuss he was in the books.

When you let me know what you think, please take into account this story takes place in the 2000s, not the 90s. It's my decision, not yours so please DO NOT waste your time writing angry reviews about it.

This is the start of a new series of short stories, so please be nice.

* * *

**Charlotte Potter: The Cat Burglar.**

**Towers, Animagi, Burglaries. **

There was a crowd of tourists clustering around the Tower of London, and when she saw the number of people nearby Charlotte Potter knew this was definitely going to be a heist to remember. Slipping away from the crowd, and retreating to a nearby toilet - it was hardly the best place for a meeting, but she didn't care - and when she was inside she slipped out of her wrist holster - illegal - and removed a long black stick from her wrist.

After a few moments of waving the stick around, she maintained hold of the stick.

"Dobby, Winky," she said.

Instantly two small creatures appeared in front of her with a pop. "Hello Chazzy Potter, ma'am," they both said with wide smiles.

Charlotte grinned at them, their perky demeanours had never ceased to make her smile. "Are you two ready?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," they both said.

"Alright, good stuff," Charlotte said. "Remember, when I say now quietly, get to it."

"Yes, ma'am," the two House-elves said.

Charlotte smiled at them again. Despite sometimes thinking of herself as nothing more than a hard-hearted bitch, she genuinely had a soft spot for animals and indeed for House-elves, especially since she felt a kinship with them considering her history.

"Winky," she began hesitantly, instantly banishing that thought to the back of her mind since thinking of the past was not going to help her now. "Are you sure that you're okay doing this, I mean its a far cry from what you were expecting from me when I took you in after-?" she trailed off awkwardly.

But the female House elf smiled at her shyly. "Mistress gives Winky an order," the elf replied simply. "I cannot refuse. Besides," she added with a wide smile that was wide enough to literally split her face open, "Dobby tells Winky stories, and I feel being bad might be good."

The smile and the House elf's words brightened Charlottes' heart and made her smile back fondly. "Okay, if you're sure," she said, chuckling with amusement.

After dismissing them, Charlotte had to bite her lip to stop the guilt she was feeling from overwhelming her. Although the two House Elves had been bonded to her - Dobby had been with her ever since she had freed him from the Malfoys a year and a bit ago, but Winky was still new and Charlotte was worried that what she was asking might be overwhelming to the poor female elf who had been kicked out of her family by Barty Crouch Senior only a week ago - Charlotte didn't really like asking the House elves to really help her with her heists unless she felt it was absolutely necessary.

Charlotte was a thief, mostly a burglar but there had been moments during her career where she had also been a robber, and sometimes she had picked up a few confidence tricks although she wasn't an expert, although she had picked up enough to know how to run a Ponzi scheme. She even had a few running in the Magical World, who for all their knowledge and history, had never encountered anything like it before. She was hoping to keep the Ponzi's going long enough before someone realised something was going on.

She was also a witch. She appreciated her situation only too well.

Charlotte had run away from her relatives, the Dursleys after she had killed them all when they had pushed her too far. The Dursleys had been an abusive bunch, but looking back now, she knew without a doubt the family had known about her magical heritage. In typical bigoted fashion, the Dursleys, instead of doing the right thing and simply treating her like one of them, had instead abused her. They had tormented her both physically and mentally.

However, before she had fled Number Four, she had become a thief already out of necessity. When she had been at school, sometimes she had been starved by the Dursleys for things that were out of her control, but now she knew it was her accidental magic which was the cause of all the strange things that had happened around her. She had occasionally stolen food whenever she could, quickly learning the arts of theft while making sure she didn't draw attention to herself, but most of all ensuring she didn't commit them too often.

It was even harder whenever the Dursleys sold her as free labour to the rest of the street. She could see the irony even then; for all the muggles' talk about slavery - Hermione Granger was the worst, especially whenever the subject of House-elves came up now after she had seen how Crouch and the other wizards had treated Winky that night after the Quidditch World Cup had been played, and now Charlotte had had to endure hours of listening to Hermione preach about slavery, but while the brunette girl's heart was in the right place, Charlotte just _wished _the girl would ask some fucking questions instead of jumping to assumptions - they didn't see anything wrong with enslaving a little girl who was so physically skinny, and see nothing wrong with it.

The neighbours had always believed those lies about her, the lies the Dursleys loved to spread about her around the town and at school.

One day, she would make them pay.

But anyhow, back then, she had been more than happy to steal a few coins off of them, a few trinkets, but nothing smaller than a marble. She had also learnt to hide everything she had stolen as well, knowing full well the Dursleys would _murder her _if they found out what she had done.

It had taken Charlotte a long time to get over the worst of the abuse she had suffered, and while aspects of her health were still shaky, she felt she had come through the worst of it in one piece, though she wished her Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, would just leave her alone and get himself a life instead of poking his nose into her business.

The House-elves were two magical creatures, and she had bonded with them. Dobby had been the first, and she had bonded with him after learning more about House-elves and after she had seen the benefits of having a house-elf in her life. She and Dobby had a deal; she would deal with some things, especially since she had her own home once she had discovered her family fortune which included a few properties around the country, and he would deal with the rest. Winky had come later.

Charlotte knew she'd need to keep the House-elves a secret, especially if her plans for the upcoming Fifth-year would come to pass. Trouble was she had her fourth year to get through first. But also because her _friends _would likely betray them to Dumbledore.

XXX

Charlotte walked out of the toilets after taking down the spells she had placed on them to prevent any of the non-magical people - the muggles - from getting inside and disturbing her, and she rejoined the crowd of tourists who had come to London today to see the exhibits inside the Tower. As she joined the crowds, she noticed a number of people holding up international editions which detailed the recent theft of the Mona Lisa, and she hid a smirk at the sight before she regained her composure.

Running a hand through her long, messy-curly black hair, Charlotte followed the crowd through the small castle towards the Crown Jewel exhibit.

She ignored their chattering, although in a few minutes they wouldn't be chattering.

No, they would be running away, screaming in panic.

After passing security - letting them see the muggle items she had on her person - she walked through the exhibit where she saw the lustrous jewels, the crown and the deep rich robes of royalty. She also caught sight of the sceptre, and the hollow gold orb, gleaming with lustre.

She caught sight of the St. Edward's crown, and her eyes widened. Charlotte had done her research on the crown; she knew it was made out of pure gold, and it had been encrusted with 444 precious stones; amethysts, topazes, sapphires, and rubies among them. All of them were here.

Charlotte stared at the crown encrusted with jewels before she gripped her wand, silently casting a notice-me-not spell around herself.

"Okay, Dobby, Winky," she said, "Now!"

XXX

Throughout the lower floors of the Tower were piles of wood, bits of old paper, covered with petrol, while smaller piles were scattered around the upper floors, along with a few crates of chemical explosives, mostly EDNA, or rather the explosive chemical Ethylenedinitramine. Dobby and Winky had spent the whole morning scattering them around the Tower, completely bypassing muggle security while at the same time placing the necessary spells and enchantments around the areas the piles were kept in to stop any of the muggles from actually finding them.

The piles of flammable materials were nowhere near anything precious; Charlotte might not actually care about a lot of things, but she didn't see any good coming out of damaging historical relics. She had made sure the two House-elves understood that part of her order very well.

The moment the two House-elves heard their mistress' command they started the fires, which instantly blazed out of control. At the same time, Dobby clicked his fingers, and the security feed in the Crown Jewel exhibit room and the rest of the Tower were shut off. In contrast, Winky had been ordered to make sure no-one was seriously hurt by the fires.

XXX

Charlotte smirked to herself when everyone was ushered out of the Crown jewel exhibit room - and she took one last look at the exhibits, and she followed the crowd, trying to appear frightened and uncertain by the events taking place around her, but as she left she caught sight of Dobby's face, knowing she was the only one who could see the elf, who wasn't stupid enough to be seen by the muggles.

Her smirk grew when she saw the House-elf raise his fingers, though she knew he wouldn't click them until everyone was out of danger.

Charlotte turned away and walked out, knowing that if the muggles ever restored the footage then they would see her walking away, and although she was keeping her face schooled the right way so they wouldn't suspect her, she knew if they saw her smirking the police would pull out all the stops to find her.

When she was outside, Charlotte managed to walk away from the Tower and returned to the Tube station; she loved the London Underground since it was so convenient, with a network of tunnels crisscrossing underneath the city until there was nearly a station on every corner, it was a wonder that few burglars and thieves used it to make their escape (well, that she knew of), but there was something about the network that really made it special to her.

She had used the London Underground when she had left the Dursleys after murdering them in a fit of rage that was magically enhanced. At the time she had been reeling from what she had done, still looking over .her shoulder and expecting the police or _anyone else _from discovering where she was and coming after her, though of course no-one ever had since she had changed her identity more than once before she had gone to Hogwarts.

Not even her foster carers knew anything about her past, and she had made sure to keep it that way. But the Dursleys' murder still haunted her since she had never considered the thought of committing murder before, and it had taken Charlotte a long time to recover from what she had done to the Dursleys, though fortunately the time she had spent in London, and then later Brighton when she had decided it was time for her to see the coast. The Tube was also perfect to use when she had been a pickpocket; she had needed to do was avoid the CCTV cameras, which was easily managed since she was so small and frail it had to be a miracle just to notice a follicle of her hair, never mind see her reach into their pockets.

Charlotte used the District Line to take her directly to South Kensington, where she changed over to the Piccadilly Line, and travelled to Covent Garden. Once she was out of the station, she walked a fair distance away before she found a quiet corner which she reinforced with a few choice charms while she checked her watch.

She had another five minutes to go.

She took down the spells and she gently said, "Winky."

The House elf appeared, but before Winky could speak Charlotte tapped her watch. "You'd better take me back to Devon, Winky," she said, trying not to show how she felt.

Thankfully Winky clicked her fingers. House elf travel was one of Charlottes' favourite methods of travel, especially the magical variety. She had been on the Knight Bus only the once, and it had made her feel like she had been placed blindfolded in a plane which then performed some risky aerial acrobatics before she was then shoved into a barrel and chucked off of Niagra Falls.

In contrast, being transported by elfin magic was as smooth as walking through a door.

Charlotte checked her watch again and sighed with relief. Two minutes to go. "Okay, Winky," she said when she looked around, and saw to her relief the Burrow was really close by, but her two elves both knew when her younger self was due to leave, and they knew better than to transport her so close to the younger Charlotte. "I'll see you tonight, be ready. Oh, is Dobby finished with the Crown Jewels?" she added.

"Yes, ma'am," Winky nodded.

"Okay, good," Charlotte smiled. "I'll see you later."

Winky smiled and clicked her fingers as she went back to Charlotte's home, leaving the girl to herself. She turned around and sighed, and she walked closer to the house. It never ceased to amaze her with just how ramshackle the house was, and she wondered just how much the structure could take before it collapsed around the Weasley's heads and landed in pieces at their feet. She hoped she was there to see it.

She had no real idea of what to make of the Weasleys at the best of times; she knew that Dumbledore had _persuaded _them to look after her from time to time after she had read the minds of Ron and Mr Weasley without either of them really knowing about it; Mr Weasley, despite her liking him although she felt he could do with a dose of reality, had no mental defences which made it worryingly easy she knew so much about Dumbledore's plans. Ron either didn't know about the mind arts, or he did but he didn't think anyone would look into his brain, though they wouldn't see much since his brain was so simple.

When she had started attending Hogwarts, it had been shortly after she had mastered the basics of the mind arts after buying a decent book, and when she had met Ron Weasley for the first time, she had read his mind and she had seen the entire master plan Dumbledore had in mind for her, but she had befriended Ron, and then later Hermione, because she knew that although they were Dumbledore's little spies, it was better to keep them close rather than at arms length. Dumbledore would take action if she showed signs of knowing what was going on.

Thinking of Hermione…

Charlotte knew the bushy haired girl genuinely thought what she was doing wasn't a breach in trust, which only served to emphasise just how limited she was with others, when she spied on her (Charlotte), but she felt she was doing it to make sure nothing happened to the famous Girl who Lived, but there was no doubt in Charlotte's mind Hermione was the only one who felt that way. Ron only spied on her for the cash, and because Dumbledore had promised him she would be his.

As if.

This was the first time she had ever been at the Weasleys, she had always left before Ron or Hermione could find out where she lived during the summers, but she had promised to stay for the duration of the Quidditch cup although she'd made sure one of the House elves was around as a bodyguard to make sure no-one placed any spells on her, and more than once the House elf had reported to her that they had tried to place spells on her while spiking her food and drink with potions.

Charlotte had made it clear to them all she was only staying on while the cup went on and then she would be gone in a few days; if she left automatically then she would make them suspicious, and she couldn't afford that, not when she was so close to her goal.

She had been here for a week, putting on the guise of being the hopeless orphan girl who was so naive it wasn't funny, but always on her guard. Mrs Weasley, in particular, seemed determined to fill some role in Charlottes' life which meant nothing to the girl. She had survived for years on the streets, and now she had this arrogant, overbearing woman with delusions of grandeur

Charlotte pushed those thoughts out of her mind and she walked around, and she smiled when she saw her younger self, Dobby, and Winky kneeling on the ground in a circle with a golden chain thrown over their shoulders while her younger self was holding a small round object in her hands, and was spinning a central dial before the trio vanished.

Charlotte smirked and walked out into the open, as far as the rest of the world and the Weasley family was convinced Charlotte Potter was in Devon while the heist of the century took place. It might not have been the most subtle of burglaries, but truthfully she had realised that the best way of getting to the crown jewels was to use the day time and use distractions.

She was looking forward to tonight.

Charlotte walked to the Burrow, putting on the tried and practiced face she had been portraying for the last few years.

* * *

The Mona Lisa mention will be highlighted in part 3


	2. Chapter 2

**Charlotte Potter: The Cat Burglar.**

"Must you really go, Charlotte dear?" Mrs Weasley asked, looking beseechingly at the small dark-haired girl.

Charlotte bit her tongue. "I have to go, Mrs Weasley," she replied. "I have to do a few things in London, and I have to get a few things."

"But we can do that!" the red-headed woman got in quickly, trying and failing to look loving and helpful at the same time while she looked at the small girl; it might even have worked if Charlotte didn't already know Molly was in on the plot to have her marry Ron so then the Weasley family could help themselves to her inheritance.

Charlotte bit her tongue harder. This was really starting to grate on her nerves (her earlier comment about how she'd needed her (Molly Weasley) was still frustrating; she had lasted for years on the streets of London and in Brighton, moving from one place to another before getting herself put into foster care when she had felt the heat caused from the murder of the Dursleys had died down sufficiently, and now she had this redheaded witch poking and prodding her way into her life as if it were her right, trying to usurp the role of Charlotte's mother and appeared to believe the teenager couldn't do anything without Mrs Weasley around to hold her hand). "Mrs Weasley, I want to collect a few things in muggle London; while your husband might be an expert in muggles, I doubt he knows his way around the city. And besides, I've already made arrangements to collect them as soon as possible."

She was pleased she had worded the part where she acknowledged Mr Weasley, though in truth she felt nothing but contempt for the man's ignorance towards non-magical culture. The idiot didn't even know certain facts about muggles, but what made it worse was he didn't realise just how ignorant he actually was.

"But it's not safe!" Molly said loudly.

Charlotte ground her teeth together as the loud voice went through her ears. _God, please grant the mercy of silence..._ "Mrs Weasley, I can look after myself. I'm not four years old."

"But after the Quidditch World Cup-!" the woman near shrieked. The volume of the shriek made Charlotte close her eyes, and she was thankful she hadn't brought Nightstar anywhere near the Burrow, though she wouldn't have wanted her beloved cat anywhere near the Weasleys. She had not forgotten how the Weasley twins had set off a prank, and Nightstar had gotten caught up in it. She had come dangerously close to killing them.

Ron was the worst.

For some reason Charlotte had never been able to work out, the youngest Weasley boy had a dislike for cats. He went out of his way to deride Nighstar at every opportunity even if her precious cat was always a dorm away, and more than once she had had to listen to him complain even though her cat never really bothered him. He also made up lies saying everyone in Gryffindor despised her cat, but she wasn't bothered by that since if the others disliked her cat then they could either fuck off or ignore her cat.

Hermione had it just as bad with Crookshanks, a cat whom Charlotte liked even if she felt he had a bit of attitude at times. It had taken a while for him and Nightstar to become friendly, although she honestly hoped it didn't result in kittens.

Right now, Charlotte wondered why Mrs Weasley couldn't just speak in a normal way. What was the point of yelling at every opportunity? It didn't do any good, and besides she had seen Ginny and the twins ignore the Howlers they received at school, the twins even went as far as to walk out of the hall while the never-ending yelling went on and on.

_Oh, fucking hell! Hasn't this woman ever heard of silence!? Well, two can play at this game. _

"Mrs Weasley!" Charlotte yelled, instantly shutting the woman up. Molly gave her a look of surprise as if she couldn't believe anyone had raised her voice towards her, and it made Charlotte wonder for a moment when the last time someone had shouted her down had happened, but she quickly took advantage of the stunned silence. "The Death Eaters who attacked the Cup were drunk," she went on, "they're not likely to go into the muggle world after me specifically."

"But you don't know that. Stay here where it is safe," Molly implored her before she opened her mouth. "Forget these muggle things. You don't need them."

"Er, yes I do," Charlotte went on, and she went to the door and flicked her wand.

Unfortunately, it gave Mrs Weasley more ammunition. "You aren't allowed to use magic except at school!"

Charlotte speared her with a look before she left. "What, using magic in a place full of magic. The Ministry only pays attention to magic in muggle areas, they won't care about it being used here."

"How come we never heard this?" Ron demanded.

But Charlotte had already caught the looks the twins exchanged. They had both already known about the rule, and besides, surely it had occurred to the others if the twins were inventing things for their joke shop they would be using magic. It meant nothing to Charlotte, and she walked out.

"Dobby!" she said.

The House elf appeared and without a word they both left.

After thanking the House elf who transported them away from the Burrow to another rustic area, though one she thought of as home, Charlotte walked into her windmill, relieved to finally be away from the Weasleys. The red-headed family hadn't been particularly happy that she had left. Indeed, she had had nothing but arguments throughout most of the morning, but she had told them she would be leaving one way or another so she could carry on with her shopping. She didn't understand why Mrs Weasley was just so _pushy, _telling her it wasn't safe to be out on her own.

The teenager didn't really care about the older woman's views, but what really tried her patience was how the woman seemed to think she couldn't go anywhere without someone there to hold her hand.

Charlotte dug into her pockets and pulled out the key and stuck it into the lock, feeling a magical tingling as she went through the wards keyed to her. When she had learnt about the windmill after getting to Gringotts and getting herself emancipated showing she could live by herself, though truthfully the goblins didn't particularly care about little details like having no other family, she had made sure the place was covered with wards to prevent anyone from coming after her, especially when she had learnt Dumbledore had made Hagrid take her to Number 4 in the first place, and it had made her worried the old wizard had some ideas about what to do with her. Indeed, she had needed to find a way to get away from Hagrid since the Hogwarts groundskeeper had been instructed to take her to a family of Dumbledore's own choosing.

She had not wanted him to do that. She had already experienced one of Dumbledore's choices for her, and it had not been pleasant. Getting the windmill set up wasn't difficult, but what made the place so great was it was in a fairly remote place in abandoned farmland near a town with a railway station, allowing her to go wherever she wanted.

What made the wards brilliant was there were multiple layers which cancelled out tracking spells and other spells and potions, and as she walked into the windmill, she took a good look at the ward logbook which detailed the dates all the spells were cancelled out. She sighed but she was far from surprised when she saw the logbook state clearly that there were over a dozen different types of potion alone in her system at the moment, but they had been cancelled out long before she had arrived.

_When are they going to stop trying to do this? What is the point? _

"Thanks for getting me out of the Burrow, Dobby," she said to the House elf.

"It was nothing, Missy Char," Dobby grinned.

Charlotte chuckled. For some reason she had never been able to work out or comprehend, the House-elves delighted in giving her different names out of their home and in their home. Missy Char for inside the windmill, and Ma'am for the outside. She didn't mind. "How's Nightstar?" she asked.

As if on cue a beautiful and sleek black cat meowed and rubbed against her legs. Charlotte laughed and she bent down to pick up the cat, who rubbed herself against the teenagers face, purring away while digging her claws into her shoulder.

"Are the crown jewels upstairs?"

"Yes, Missy Char. Everything's as you wanted it."

"Good," Charlotte kissed Nightstar on the head and petted her. It had been a fight and a half with Hagrid for the cat, especially seeing how the massive groundskeeper had been fixed on getting an owl for her, but she had told the man she wasn't interested in birds. Cats were her favourite animal, and she had needed to be sympathetic towards Hagrid, especially when he had begun sneezing over the kitten. "Are there any letters?"

"Yes, they be on the table."

"Okay, I'll have a look, and then we'll go upstairs and carry out the next phase."

The House elf nodded and popped away.

Charlotte chuckled as her cat butted her head into her chin, but what she saw on the table made her laugh even more. The House-elves had followed her orders to the letter. On the table was a small pile of newspapers rolled up and placed neatly on the side. After juggling Nightstar in her arms a little, she managed to pick up one newspaper. The Guardian headlines were screaming with the loss of the Crown Jewels, but she didn't bother reading the article since she would have time later.

"Oh wow, these are gonna look great in the scrapbook, eh Nightstar?" she said to the cat, who meowed again before the teenager turned her attention over to the letters. There were two piles of them; one she recognised as muggle, the other as magical.

The letters varied. Some of them were muggle bills for electricity, water, and gas, and a few bits of junk mail. Charlotte had made sure one of the elves always took the post out of the letterbox. She knew from experience one of the things burglars always looked out for when picking out a place to burgle was if there was post left in the hole. If they saw more than a few letters and plastic-wrapped magazines shoved into the letterbox, then they knew someone wasn't in. But her home was not normal. The wards prevented other burglars from trying to break in, but Charlotte knew better than to be too complacent, and besides if she used magic for her own crimes, why couldn't others?

Charlotte made a mental note to go through the muggle post later. She turned her attention to the magical letters. There wasn't that much there, just a few letters from Gringotts, a few catalogues for her subscribed book shops. There were a couple of Hogwarts letters, but as she read through them she wasn't surprised when she found the usual beginning of year booklist, and she was thankful she had left the Burrow before this had arrived.

She mentally sneered when she saw the new Divination book listed. Charlotte hated the subject; when she had been in second year, she had selected Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as her electives along with magical creatures. She had hoped to really broaden her horizons to gain some great masteries, but no. Dumbledore poked his nose in and forced her to take the annoying subject and nothing had worked to get it changed around. She couldn't believe how blunt he had been; she knew he was trying to keep her down to a certain level, but she had thought he would have been more subtle, so unless the old fool's brain was slipping or if he truly thought she wouldn't care, she didn't know. It just pissed her off.

But that didn't mean she didn't have plans not to take the OWLs, and with the time turner she had acquired a year back after realising Hermione Granger had one in her possession, and which Charlotte had magically copied when the bushy-haired girl was asleep in their dorm, she was able to attend the classes underneath Dumbledore's very nose while making sure the arrogant headmaster didn't find out. She used the House-elves to ensure that happened.

Charlotte wondered why the book was listed since Trelawney wasn't the type of teacher to really care about books. She was tempted to just ignore the book out of spite, but then she decided she didn't want Dumbledore catching wind of it. She sighed and put the list down irritably before she turned her attention over to the letter and wrapped parcel from Remus and Sirius.

She opened the letter and read it. The letter wasn't particularly long.

"_Dear Charlotte, _

_Did you hear about the Quidditch World Cup? We did, and we heard about the Death Eaters? Are you alright? Anyway, Remus and I are both out of the country for the moment, but we should be back before Halloween. Hopefully, we can meet up for Christmas, right? Just us, as family. _

_Anyway, we can't really talk now because Remus is going to take me out on a walk, but we've bought something which is in the parcel you've hopefully received along with the letter. It's a messenger book. You simply write out what you want, and we will receive it. _

_Happy birthday, and we hope to see you soon_

_Sirius (and Remus)"_

Charlotte frowned a little bit in thought, especially since the letter, like the others, didn't have anything simple like _how are you, _or _hope you're okay_. She wasn't sure what to make of either her prison escapee godfather and her werewolf 'uncle' because she couldn't define them. It didn't help matters the past made it hard for her to trust them. Sirius had been so enthusiastic at them living together at last even though Pettigrew had managed to escape and he had been forced to once more go on the run just to evade the Ministry, but that didn't mean Charlotte hadn't forgotten that he would not have needed to go on the run in the first place if he had chosen a different plan.

At the same time, there was Lupin's whole attitude, his whole "_woe is me, I'm a werewolf, and I can't find any other options to let me live my life" _manner which truly grated on her nerves, just like the way he had given her excuses about why he hadn't seen her as a child. She could understand the dangers of lycanthropy well enough. Good lord, she had seen Lupin transform, but he was human for the most part. It had been a bitter pill to swallow for her that he didn't seem to care.

She had considered using Sirius' expertise for the project she had had in mind shortly after she had first seen Professor McGonagall's cat form animagus for the first time, but she had decided against it; while he was still on the run, it was virtually impossible for Charlotte to keep him in touch. And her project required the aid of an expert who was on site. And besides, she still wasn't entirely sure whether or not Sirius wouldn't rat her out to Dumbledore. In the end, she had decided to not tell him anything full stop.

After dinner, Charlotte went upstairs and she smiled when she saw the set the House-elves had both used to dress the scene. Dobby and Winky had both followed her instructions to the letter, using heavy red velvet curtains to give the place a classy look while at the same time disguising the main characteristics of the room.

Charlotte grinned while she donned the robes and put on the crown - she made sure to cast a spell to prevent any of her hairs or flakes of skin from settling inside before she got started - and she donned the robes while holding the sceptre in one hand and the golden orb in the other. Dobby, who was manning the camera mounted on the tripod, snapped the pictures of her with the crown jewels; she didn't have any intention of showing them off, but if she ever had children, then she would so be showing them what their mother had done in her life. She grinned as Dobby snapped another picture of her.


	3. Chapter 3

Charlotte Potter: The Cat Burglar.

Charlotte grinned at her professor as she reversed the transformation and she returned to her human form. "Better?" she asked.

Jose Chameleone, a tall and thin man who was five years Charlottes' senior grinned back showing a collection of straight white teeth that shone in the spectacular smile. "Much better," he replied with a strong Ugandan accent. "You have certainly mastered the animagus transformation, and your drive to succeed has certainly been impressive. When did you decide to become an animagus?"

"Ever since my first year at Hogwarts," Charlotte replied promptly. "When I saw my transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts leap off of her desk, transforming from a cat into a human. I wanted to become an animagus as well, because becoming one is the sign of a witch or wizard who wants to better themselves, right?"

The professor nodded back with a smile again, but his smile faded a little. "I just need to know something, and I admit I have been curious ever since you hired me through Gringotts to help you master the transformation. Why didn't you ask Professor McGonagall for help? I know of her, she is a well regarded Transfiguration mistress, and an animagus as well. She should have helped if you wanted to become one."

Charlotte wasn't offended by the question. Indeed she had been expecting it for a while. "I was thinking of asking for her help, but the problem is I don't trust her," she said, deciding to simply tell the Ugandan wizard the truth. "In my first year, she refused to listen to me and my friends when I told her something important. The result, we were nearly killed. In my second year, I was accused of setting a monster on the school simply because I can speak parseltongue. Not only didn't she do anything, but you could see in her eyes she _actually_ believed the rumours without even trying to find the answers for herself."

Suddenly understanding the issue, Chameleone groaned. "I will never understand why you Europeans have so many prejudices towards magical talents. Yes, parseltongue has had a bad reputation in some parts of the world, but in parts of Africa and India, it is highly revered. There are many poisonous snakes in various jungles and areas in Africa, South America, Asia and Australia. Having a parselmouth around is a great benefit."

Charlotte nodded, once more grateful she had used her Gringotts contacts to help her with finding this man and hiring him out to help her take the steps into becoming an animagus. Ever since she had seen Professor McGonagall's transformation during that first transfiguration lesson back in her first year, she had been dying to become an animagus, and she had done a huge amount of work and research into developing her transfiguration skills so she would have the expertise into making it possible.

But it wasn't long before she discovered one of the reasons why few witches or wizards even tried to become animagi was because of the long, arduous struggle involved with becoming an animagus. Another was there were so many things you had to get right the first time, otherwise, you would need to do it all over again.

Charlotte had been in limbo. She had no idea what to do but it wasn't long before she realised she would need help into becoming an animagus even if it went against her nature to beg or even to want help, but the _idea _of becoming an animagus….

It was compelling.

She had no idea what her form would be, but even if it couldn't help her with her burglaries - she had read the stories of cat animagi breaking into places, which gave rise to the stories and the term '_cat burglar' _which had only inspired her more - then she would have no choice.

The death and the sale of the Basilisk corpse had certainly opened doors for Gringotts. Not only had she flooded the market - both the legal and the illegal - with basilisk parts and skin, especially skin when she had discovered that shed basilisk skin _never _lost its strength, and the longer it was left off of the snake, the more resilient it became - but the profits had certainly improved her standing with the goblins, and thanks to the profits it had opened doors.

Like finding a teacher who could help her become an animagus.

Thanks to the goblins, Charlotte had learnt of a Ugandan transfiguration professor who hailed from Uagadou School of Magic, who was renowned worldwide for their skills with transfiguration - Charlotte had laughed herself sick when she had heard their school team had made so many older and more experienced witches and wizards nervous because they were able to transform into animals such as Cheetahs, Baboons, and Elephants so effortlessly. Hiring someone with the knowledge hadn't been difficult, but when he had arrived Charlotte had had a problem.

She was going to go to the Weasley family for a short time, so she wouldn't be able to do the work without someone wondering what she was doing. On top of that, she had planned for the Crown Jewel heist for a while, sending Dobby, who was the only House elf out of him and Winky, who had experience with her private life as a criminal, to map out the Tower of London so she could form a plan.

The arrangements to stay with the Weasley family came in late in the year, but before that she had planned to meet with Chameleone once she had gained an understanding of the transfiguration principles for the third year, but the limited time she would have was a problem for her.

The dilemma was solved, thankfully, when she discovered the Time Turner Hermione Granger was using, and after finding a spell which was powerful enough to copy the Turner, she had time travel.

Once she had the Turner, her plans finally came together although she had wondered what she could do. She wasn't particularly interested in Quidditch despite her cover, but it was important for her image if she presented the facade she was. With the Time-Turner, she would only need to travel back in time a few hours and get to London to steal the jewels.

When she had been with the Weasleys, Charlotte had actually been using the Time-Turner she had made after using a spell she had discovered in the Hogwarts library which was powerful enough to copy magical objects to go back in time a few hours to assist her with the London burglary, but with the animagus transformation, she would have to travel back even further if she wanted to keep her schedule.

Professor Chameleone had come into Britain about a month before the Quidditch World Cup, and she had met him personally before she had visited the Weasleys. She had spent three hours with him to find out what the transformation entailed, and he had confirmed it would take a month to properly become an animagus, though she wasn't surprised given she had discovered that fact when she had been studying the animagus transformation years before.

Using the Time-Turner, she had gone back in time after discovering from her own researches which involved a trial and error system at Hogwarts that more than ten turns would send her back a month or so (God, she'd had so much fun when she had travelled back in time two months during her third year, especially when she had gone on a crime spree in Paris before returning to the present, and living out the two months taking an unauthorised holiday to Paris had been a joy), it had been easy for Charlotte to go back in time to properly work with Professor Chameleone - she had surprised him given the Quidditch World Cup, but that was nothing she couldn't handle, and so three versions of her existing in three different time zones had been running around. Charlotte had made certain to prepare another Potter property for the work and other arrangements to deal with the professor's stay, and she had made sure her House-elves attended to her other younger selves. Not her _her. _

When she had studied under the Professor, Charlotte had found the added benefit of having occlumency experience since having an ordered mind meant she could control the transformation into her form.

"I never knew speaking to snakes was so revered in other parts of the world," she said, coming out of her thoughts.

"It is," Chameleone confirmed. "Now, one more time."

Charlotte nodded and closed her eyes while she turned her mind inward to focusing on her animagus form. She felt herself transform into her cat form. She was relieved she had discovered her animagus form was a cat, but given that her personality of aloofness, her desire to be independent, to be unseen, that she loved the night, was geared for a feline form, it wasn't a surprise. Truthfully, Charlotte didn't really care what kind of cat she became, but she was relieved that her cat form was a black shorthair cat.

To the Ugandan transfiguration professor who had taught her to become an animagus in the first place was used to the animals being more exotic - at least in her mind - so she had expected him to find her becoming an ordinary house cat a little bit boring and mundane. In truth, Chameleone was actually quite excited by the form she had. Charlotte had the impression he had become so bored out of his mind with the African animals, he thought house cats were more exotic, even though they lived in Africa as well as in Britain.

Charlotte padded around the room. It was so strange moving on four limbs instead of the usual two, and at this particular height. She looked at the chair that was near the counter. She walked over to it gracefully before she crouched down and leapt into the chair. When she found herself in the seat Charlotte looked down at the ground with awe. She had become an athlete thanks to her life on the streets, but she had never leapt up like that before. Even the times she had managed to leap onto a fence and scale it seemed like she had been doing it clumsily compared to the grace of a cat.

Professor Chameleone started to clap his hands when she leapt onto the countertop and walked up and down, looking out over the rest of the room from where she was. One thing she hadn't expected was being able to look out over the room from her position and from her new size, and see and hear things that as a human was virtually impossible for her to hear.

She transformed back, grinning.

"What now?" she asked.

"Now, we get you registered. You do not want to go out with an unregistered animagus," the Ugandan wizard replied seriously.

Charlotte nodded although she had to use all of her occlumency not to show how she really felt about that. She didn't want anyone knowing anything about her animagus form, especially if it got back to Dumbledore. "Do we have to get it registered with the British Ministry? I don't really trust them not to cause any problems."

The Ugandan wizard raised an eyebrow, but he replied anyway, "All magical governments share responsibilities. We can go wherever you want, but please tell me why you don't want your form registered in Britain?"

Charlotte sighed as she tried to think of a good enough excuse. "You may have heard the British Ministry lost a prisoner from Azkaban, yes?"

"Everyone did," Chameleone folded his arms. "But what has that to do with anything?"

"It was my godfather who escaped," Charlotte said grimly, feeling only slightly regretful about using Sirius in this manner, though if it helped her then she would. "The Ministry believed he, being a high-ranking Death Eater, would come after me. What do they do? They didn't tell me about the danger, they instead opted to treat me like a little kid without a clue about the world, and they posted a group of _Dementors _at Hogwarts. They claim it was for my own protection, but I nearly died when I fell from a broomstick during a match."

"What?" Chameleone stared at her with horror.

Charlotte nodded, feeling the same resentment she had felt when the Ministry in an act of incredible stupidity refused to remove them, although they had changed their minds very quickly, what she resented the most was the fact they saw her as a clueless child. She had been thirteen at the time, and she had lost her parents. Okay, so she didn't really care much about that, but surely it would have made sense if they had at least informed her of the danger, instead of her stumbling into Black's hands by accident.

Then again, Fudge didn't have any common sense, and neither did many of the people in the Ministry. "I made sure the Magical world understood the stupidity by sending out a letter into the media. What struck in my craw the most was they didn't even tell me anything. I only found out about what Black did by chance."

"So that's why you don't trust them?" Chameleone nodded in understanding while he sent her a look she recognised as sympathetic for having to go through that.

"Yeah," Charlotte replied, knowing if she told him about the rest of her plans it might blow up in her face.

"I see. Well, I can escort you to a couple of other ministries, get you registered there. If anything happens, then you can show the licence and the DMLE here won't do anything."

Charlotte nodded her thanks.

XXX

A few days later, Charlotte was testing the limits of her new animagus form in a muggle neighbourhood. Propelled by the mind of the witch, the cat leapt onto fences, knowing full well if she tried to walk on them in her human form it would collapse taking her with it while the fence itself would need to be put back up or back together, depending on how well it was made. Even if she were the greatest acrobat with the type of physique necessary, she knew it would be virtually impossible to balance herself on the top of the fence without it toppling over.

In her cat form, however, Charlotte was able to run up and down without her weight sending it over.

Unfortunately, she had to contend with the muggles.

"Oi, get off my fence!" an irate woman yelled at Charlotte while she walked on top of the fence.

Charlotte turned her head and eyed the muggle woman for a moment before she looked away.

"Get off of my fence!" the muggle screamed but Charlotte ignored her. Suddenly she yowled in shock and anger as she suddenly felt a jet of icy water sprayed at her with enough force to shove her off of the fence into next doors garden hedge. Furious, Charlotte spat and growled as she wrestled her way out of the hedge. She spat with pain as the pointy bits in the hedge went into her skin underneath her pelt.

When she had righted herself, Charlotte shook off the water - she could very well understand why cats didn't like being sprayed with jets of the stuff - off of her body before she realised she was in the garden belonging to someone who appeared to own a cat of their own. Charlotte's tail flicked a little bit before she padded softly over to the cat flap set in the door, and she pushed her way inside. She peeked in slowly sniffing the air and pricking her ears to catch whatever sounds were in the house, but there weren't any. A brief sniff told her no-one was in the house.

Cautiously she walked into the house and she started exploring the house. From the living room, she saw that the house belonged to a family with a single mother, who was likely to be at work, and she had about two children. A boy and a girl. Charlotte heard a hiss behind her, and she turned and saw another cat, a siamese nearby. Charlotte caught the scent and identified it as another female.

Refusing to back down, Charlotte instantly hissed back, but that caused the second cat to snarl. With an inner sigh, Charlotte turned herself back

into a human, startling the other cat whom the witch ignored for a moment before she walked back to the kitchen and transformed herself back.

"Needs work," she muttered to herself before she fully transformed herself back into a cat.


End file.
